Flatwound Bass String Shootout - Bacchus P Bass 

Rumour has it he's still financially recovering from buying all these strings haha

sometimes you just find the *exact* video you need while researching something and it feels like a gift from above, god bless you

One thing that immediately pops out is how differently those strings sit in the mix, compared to how they sound solo. The mystery strings sounded the best to me.

La Bella sounds the best by a mile!

This video made me decide on La Bella. I've been using TIs, Rotosounds and Pyramids, but none of them have quite that deep, percussive, velvety sound I want. The La Bellas do. Thank you for making this great comparison.

The roto’s sound the best in my opinion. Nice wooly flat sound with enough brightness to bring out that mid tone that the P does best. Great review

I have played all these at some point , La'bella and Thomastik (which I use now are both great) Labella may be a little deeper Thomastik has more defined mids but the light tension takes a little getting use to, Rotosounds are probably the best choice is you play hard rock with a pick.

As always, the oldest strings sound the best. Would be nice to hear a head-to-head of aged strings of all those varieties. But I get why that's prohibitive.

Thank you for taking the time to create this video, it is appreciated very much. I am going to stick with 77’s on my Fender P bass with a vintage ‘73 pickup and tone Masters TBX but I do believe I will change out the semi rounds on my Jaguar with classic ‘72 and Fender custom shop Manhattan transfer wind bridge pickup with the T-I jazz to see what happens. Again thanks for your input. I’ll let ya know how they workout. Sincerely, Pops Fitch. Post script: I had to listen quite a few times due to your wonder playing drifting me off subject, the string tones. LoL. 😊 God bless

It’s amazing just how different these all sound. Chromes really are the modern flat wound imo. The most neutral/generic/versatile/boring option. Could be the best string or the worst depending on your needs. LaBellas just sound like the 60s.

My favourites to play are the Thomastik Jazz Flats followed by the La Bella Deep Talking Flats and the D'Addario Chromes. They all sound different and can be used for different purposes.

Great comparison and very nice playing!

One of the best string reviews I’ve seen and heard nice playing mate.

La Bellas for that Motown tone, just because! As much as I love them I'd go with rotosounds as a rock player :)

Really nice comparison. In the mix my ears found the ti flats to cut more (also to me the brightest sounding). I have tried the to flats but I can’t get on with how floppy they are. Surprisingly I found the roto jazz flats and chromes to be second. To me the roto jazz flats sounded the second brightest. I love a dead set of roto swing 66 rounds so the brighter sounded flats related more to me. La Bella’s weirdly sounded muddy and undefined.

Lol, I love the unidentified suspected oldster Thomastiks, which is good for me because I'll still like my fresh and slightly new T.I.s when they become oldsters. The Thomastik red silk ends are very individual, there aren't any others I know of that have that particular texture, so if you think they're T.I.s based on the silk ends you're likely to be right.

I’m into P basses and flats ,and really enjoyed your comparison I’ve tried most flats out there and my preference is labella LTF’s and 760FL, I found the TI’s quite metallic and bright sounding but I suppose it depends on what music you like to play, great video and nice playing, and thanks for not slapping and showboating like some do

Thanks for the video! I really enjoyed the Thomastik, but I think overall I’m leaning towards the Rotosounds; the tone is so nice!

I use la bella gold flats and I love them so much, they’re the smoothest and the softest flatwounds I’ve ever played and I will never ever use other strings!

Great video & playing! Thomastiks are definitely quirky like that: they're ok out of the box, but it takes a week or two of consistent playing to get them to where they start to sound good... Break them in for another month or so after that and they're like WOW!

OMG thank you so much for this! I can't believe how different the Labella's sound to me. They just have "that sound" to my ears. Thank you thank you thank you. I would have gone on playing chromes indefinitely.

I've always been a Jazz bass guy but just bought my first P Bass and was looking for some flatwounds. Thanks for this. I went for the TI JF344s.

Same here…thanks for your time. I will restring my P this week.

This is probably the best flat/P bass shootout I have seen . I like the new TIs best(especially because they are a lighter gauge) followed by the Rotos

From the first note, the LaBellas took me back to '60 soul. Soloed, they were my perfection! However, _in the mix,_ I liked the Rotosounds better; they had the right amount of note definition - but still with old school character. But ya know, there are so many variables in a signal chain, including pick or no pick. A little squirt more or less of EQ, and most of these strings could be a delight.

Great demo! A few years ago I switched to flats. Now I use them on my P Bass and my fretless Jazz. I switched back to rounds on my Music Man. For flats I have a similar scenario, where I bought a used P Bass with Thomastiks and put a new set of Thomastiks on my fretless Jazz bass. The Thomastiks are quite bright when fresh out of the package but as they break in, they develop more low-end along with that naturally somewhat muted Motown tone. It all depends on the style of music you're playing and the tone you're after but I love the feel Thomastik flats have - and they've become my favourite bass string, by far.

Great video. Really useful comparison. The equivalent of about 3 hours of sifting through forums. I’m getting some TIs. Thank you.

you are doing the lord's work. I needed this comparison video, great info to look for!

Rotosounds had low end and defined. La Bella had that old school sound. Chromes lack lows and TI flats a little thin sounding

Thank you for this video. Personally, I like the Rotosound ones the best. Good low end with a brighter top end than the rest, which could make this string more versatile.

With the red windings I would have guessed they were GHS. What an invaluable comparison!!! Nicely done sir! I think they all sound great, but I like the Chromes. They have that little *_something_* I'm after.

This is how a bass demo should be! Thank you! Great idea to demo both soloed bass and with "background" music. Sowe can hear how they sound in a band context. And what a relief to hear that the Rotosound 77 I´ve bought (but hadn´t put on my bass yet) sounded so good :-)

I play rock/metal using rotosounds, the heavier gauged ones (50-110) but for the classic flatwound sound I would go for La bellas.

You can't go wrong with anything, but I think Rotos are the best option for people who come from roundwounds because of their brightness. Amazing playing, btw! I'd love to see the same comparison but with a pick and palm-muting/foam.

Iregardless of the strings that are on the bass your playing is super cool. I know what I’ll be transcribing next time I get a chance! Nicely done Sir.

I listened to this video without watching it. I ended up thinking there were 10 strings being tested lmao. In the mix (the most important test), my favorites were 1, 4, "6" and "9". Turns out I chose Labella and Thomastik-Infeld twice each 😆

I just put some pyramid gold flatwounds on my guild starfire bass. Best sounding bass strings I’ve ever had. I’ve used them all!

OMG thank you for doing this! Really well done and such a money and time saver. All of these strings sound great in their own way. I've been a Chromes user for so long, but I'd put any of these strings on my basses. Would love to see this video with a short scale..

Great comparisson. I could hear the character of each string set. Awesome sounding bass and nice playing. Keep them coming :)

I think like the old TIs the most on this particular bass

Your video sound is MILES better than that of even most of the professionally shot videos with a hundred times as many subscribers. And your playing is fun too. Cute accent is a bonus. Subscribed.

if you haven't tried them, I'd recommend l bella LTF flats for the playability of thomastiks but without the slightly plasticky string noise

A very well done comparison.. I have used all of these sets, and many more. I'm old, and old school, too. I have 23 basses and most of them, are strung with flats. My current favorite sets of flats are the Fender 9050ML, they're great- and have been continuously improved since I first had them on my then new 1973 P-bass. I like the D'Addario Chromes in the standard gauge. The heavy gauge is killer for old Motown, but just too much strain on the necks of my instruments. Same can be said of the heavy LaBellas, and the original heavy RS77 'Jazz Bass' Rotosound set. I have two basses with the lighter RS77's, and love them. The Thomastiks were simply too light for me. I had a set of DR flats on one of my basses, and didn't like them so much. Same with the Ernie Ball 'Group' flats. I love the Ernie Ball Cobalt Slinky set. They sound like rounds when you put 'em on.. and feel great and have the punch only a flat can do.

Perfect! This is how a comparison shall be done.

My favorite flatwounds are broken in Chromes. When new they are a little too bright. But after a month they settle in and thr zing is reduced and there is more warmth. However they don't have the rubber band LA Bella sound which is hard to hear in a mix.

I have and love the LeBella flatwound strings on my P bass. However, on my J bass I prefer the Rotosound Jazz flatwounds as they have a unique sound and feel that complements my bass perfectly. They also remind me of a hybrid flatwound/roundwound string as they do have a courser texture that the LeBella strings. It's what works best for me.

Perfect video for me right now! I currently have an Aria RSB Standard P style bass with old Chromes on it, and just got a Epiphone; Rumblekat that came with pretty fresh Rotosound flats. And I was wondering how exactly those other two sets of strings would compare. Great playing and nice recording quality! But I was surprised how your Chromes sound pretty close to the TIs. Mine sound rather dark, with a short, quite bright attack, but little bite, and thumpy as hell! The Rotos on the shorty still sound very bright, very balanced across the board. A little muted in the mids, but those are added back by the bass and I can shape the tone a lot by how I pluck.

1:04 la bella the best low-end p-sound 1:25 rotosound more high-end (brighter) 1:43 d’addario similar to rotosound, but I fell more bottom-end 2:00 new thomastik sounds similar to previous two but of course they are very different about playability (less tension) la bella and old thomastic (2:15) the most similar and my favourites!

I've just installed Thomastiks on my P-Bass. I am not experienced with flatwound strings. How many loops of a string do you leave on a tuning peg? For now I have left quite a lot because I don't know if the strings will stay on this bass. I left more just in case the tip broke during the change.

The labellas for me!!

Small differences but to me the Rotosounds had a good bottom end with enough output & decent clarity for flatwounds, yeah,they could be used for Rock or most genres of music..a very sweet tone....gonna try a set on my Fender Jaguar PJ Special..good demo...

Can confirm the Chromes are the ultimate fencesitters string. I had them on a Cort B4FL (Wenge/Rosewood... good Lord!). They do everything, but nothing exceptionally well. Still, if you can only afford one bass and it has to be versatile, it's the Chromes every time. Also it's easy to get custom gauges and create an Even Tension set... But... there are quality control issues.

Goes to show ya. A good journeyman bass player can make anything work.

To my surprise, I like the Chromes best, especially in the mix.

I have a P Bass with that LaBela set, I love them. I have a Stingray Old Smoothie with the Thomastik=InFeld (T.I.) set you played. The TI's benefit from the active Stingray. Thank you for the shootout, it showed the character of each set and those were good sets.

You said in this May 2020 video that you would be giving the Thomastics some time on your bass before making a decision about them. Did you decide? Which flats are you actually using these days?

Ive had the same thomastiks on my p bass for over 10 years. There’s absolutely NOTHING like them

I have been playing guitar since 1975. I have just bought a 1975 P bass. I want flat strings. I eventually decided on 760fs strings. There sure are a lot of options for La bella string choices. Some packages don't label the scale length.

I use the LaBella 760FS strings on my P Bass, and will never use another string again. The tone, and feel, are perfect.

I use LaBella Nylon Tapewounds and LOVE them.

Firstly thanks for doing this, very few people do these kinds of comparisons, sorely needed. I did like the LaBellas and the old Thomastiks, the former for a thick smooth tone, the latter with a bit more definition. I think I'll have to take some economic pain and get some Thomastiks and LaBellas and spread the love. I actually have some Chromes on a fretless and they're ok, I think some LaBellas would improve that bass.

I've been using the D'Addario for a while and my thoughts on them where spot on with what you said. Sound wise, from your playing, I would have to pick the Thomastik...I thought they were the clearest sounding, but probably because they are new🙂

After trying all of the strings on this video...I still find GHS precision flats are my favourites. Any way great review, great sound and great playing man!!!

Thanks for this, definitely the Labella, going to order some now 👍

Outstanding demo. Alone, I like the D’addario. In the mix, I prefer the cut of the Rotos and Tomastiks.

I don't play flats any more, but there was several years when I did and I've played all of the strings here. I used La Bella for quite awhile, but didn't like the clanking of the strings against the frets over time. I also had difficulty trying to play in environments with wide swings in humidity, which seemed to cause my fingers to stick to the surface of the strings (especially outside) and that screwed up my timing. Many of the others I didn't like the tension or surface texture. I ended up favoring Tomastiks, which always sounded great and were smooth on my fingers, but with just enough texture to avoid the sticky-humidity issue. They lasted a long time as well. (These days I only play Kalium hybrid rounds, but that's off topic here)

Ok, so Labella it is. Thanks for this Video. Exactly what I needed.

Merci... grâce a vous j ai pu choisir mes cordes

Beautiful tone and excellent technique!

Definitely the last ones are best. I wouldn’t mind the first ones in studio with a mixing board to put it right.

Thanks for making this :) i had bought some d’addario chrome’s recently but they were a but too bright for by taste so after seeing this i bought some labella flatwounds. Thanks again :)

Heres the thing. The la bellas sound unique with more low end. if you want to push the high end, a tube mic while recording or a nice eq or preamp these are perfect. With my experience that will aqually sound the coolest. BUT if you want a sound that is more ready from the get go. Like have a more balanced sound from the start take one of the orhers.

Than you for the great video. Can you comment on the feel of the strings and rate how tight/ taut they were? Thank you.

Thomastik-Infelds won for me. I liked the Chromes as well.

Hi LawsonK. Great video. Very helpful. Could you rate the tension, high to low, for each brand? Thanks.

You missed a couple of my faves. I know that there are more brands than are worth trying. GHS Precision Flats are dark and chocolatey. They're even deeper than La Bella, but with a bit of mid-range for definition. Jim Dunlop have gotten expensive lately,, but they start out clicky with a lot of attack, and as they age, they get thumpy, but still have a lot of attack. They also have medium-gauge in medium-scale for my Mustang. Not one of my favorites, but I've tried them and I see how they could be useful for some people, is Ernie Ball Slinky Flats. They're cobalt and they're significantly brighter than Rotosounds.

TI Flats are great but I prefer the short scale version with a heavier E string on a short scale bass

Fantastic video!!

LaBella, by far, both for soloing and in the mix. I think other folks preferred the strings with more trebles in the mix because they pull the bass to the front, but that's exactly why I prefer LaBella in that context, it keeps the bass in its own region, without clashing with higher instruments. Not to mention its punchiness in the low and low-mid regions.

Liked the larger gauge ones.

I just purchased the DR flat strings. I was told DR made improvements to their flat wounds after they came out so don't put too much weight on reviews that are several years old. The DR flats are in between the Chrome and LaBella strings. Not as rubber bandy sounding but not as bright as the Chromes. I'm a happy camper with these strings

It seemed like the Chromes, which are usually bright for flatwound strings, got lost in the mix when playing in a band setting. The La Bellas came thru nicely. I didn't use head phones, so it might have came out different on my el cheapo pc speakers.

Thank you for supplying this need.

dadario sounds awesome smooth and balanced like from ingeneer.

The chromes were my favorite followed by the stock strings

Thanks :) Just What I needed

I think La bellas sound best, but their tension is so tight for me that I would sacrifice tone for the playability of Thomastik of Chromes.

I really like the chromes on their own, but damn in the mix you just cant beat the Labellas

Blind test made me go to the Rotosounds EVERY time - I am just starting to venture into the 'flat land'.....haven't decided ..I also like the GHS Pressurewound string tones - string tension is important for me as well. Great vid - subbed

I am in desperate need of advice. for a long time ive been trying to achieve a " tight 1960's-ish almost rubberband-ish type of bass sound so my uncle suggested his main strings. i ordered a pack of Labella shortscale flatwound light strings and put them on my old Gretsch electromatic bass and went into the studio to play down some tracks. to my disappointment they hardly sounded any different from roundwound strings and sounded very "modern" with alot of rattling. I understand theres alot to be taken into consideration about this......1. I recorded directly into a vintage ampeg V2 guitar head to try to get a "raw" sound. 2. i strum very hard and noticed even unplugged that the rattling increases ( perhaps i should hold back and play more gently?) or should always have pedals readily available... Is there any variation of flatwound strings more suitable? Im looking for the most "jerky" non-delayed, non-modern, most 60sish vintage sounding strings available.

I really like Rotosound. I think Rotos are overlooked cause people are a bit biased and chose to go with the flow. Yes, Rotosound are brighter then the rest and even have a RW feeling compared to others. But LaBella for me sound too deep, almost like underwater sound. Too soft. D Chromes have good, noticeable bass side but not enough brightness so the balance isn't good. And finally Thomastic, supposed to be the best but to me they sounded good in balance, maybe a bit more focused on a treble side but in general simply "not as deep as LaBella". Considering that with time strings will sound even deeper I'd go with Rotos because they can become closer in sound to new Thomastic while the rest will become even darker and deeper. I can't even imagine how "deep" LaBella" will be after a year or two. Sadly there's no DR strings here.

Do you think the thomastik will be good on a Höfner bass? Thinking about investing in those

D'Addario!!

I liked the La Bellas and the ???'s best.

great demo. Would you say that the sensation of tension of the Chromes is much greater than the Labella? Your answer would be helpful. Thanks

great comparison - thanks! and do the (then new) thomastiks sound like nr. 5 now? cheers, chris

The '???' ones every time for me. I love that smooth deep sound. Were they Thomastik?

I am trying to find a set of bass strings that have no fret buzz/rattle/noise when you stop a note from ringing out. Are Flat Wounds the best for this? Which Strings do you recommend? Thanks

I've always been an ernie ball fan wirh the nickel wound but I want to try out the flatwound and see how they work on my Jackson bass

I have a Squier CV that’s looks identical to that with the Rotosound strings in but I definitely liked the ? Strings the best.